Coupler for musical instruments.



E. J KNABE, JR.

COUPLER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

v.MPHCATION FILED FEB-13 1915. 1,169,654. Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

2 5HEETS$HEET I.

INVENTOR M ;L. M, 9

BY (2W W-f Wt ATTORNEY WITH/E8858.

JIMJZZAL THE coLUMBlA PLANOORAPH co.. WASHINGTON, D. c

E. J. KNABE, JR.

COUPLER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-13,1915.

Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVE/VTUR $11M WITNESSES.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH ($0., WASHINGTON, D. c.

, 9 some :ofthe parts shown in. Fig.2; Fig. 5 is UN ED STATES ATENT ome a.

'- ,nn -EsT KNABE, an, or cINcINNATI, OHIO.

oou-rnnn Iron MusIoAL INSTRUMENTS. 7

To all whom it mag concern Be it known that I, ERNEs'rJ. KNAnInJn, a citizenoflthe United States, residing at Cincinnati in the county of Hamilton and 7 State of lhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Couplers for.

Musical Instruments; and I do hereby delexact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention" relates to couplers for musicalinstruments of the type in which more than one bank of keys is used. The 'ob eCts of my inyentlon are: to produce a couplerifor use with more than one bank of keys, in which thekeysand coupler will be so constructed andarranged that the operation of a key in oneof the banks will- ;soundthestrings, pipes orreeds controlled thereby and may causethe sounding of the strings, pipes or reeds controlled by a key .in another bank dependingiipon whether the coupleris used or not;.to produce a coupler for use with v a 'key-board fhaving more than one bankfof keys so constructed and arranged thatfith'e touch will be sub stantially the same,liwhethersaid connections are so set thata key in onebank con trols only its corresponding strings, pipes or reeds. or whether said connect ons are shifted so that, said'key. also controls the strings, reeds or pipes corresponding to a keyin another bank; to produce a coupler for accomplishing the above specified ob ects which will be simple feasy of adjustment and reliable in op ration. M

, I shall now describe my improved coupler as constructed and arranged for use in a combined" string and wind instrument, such as a combined piano and organ.

In the'drawingszeFigure 1 1s a side elevation of my improved key-board as, constructed with two banks 'ofkeys; Fig. 2 isa' plan view of theparts' shown in Fig.1, the,-

key bottom being omitted; Fig. 3 isa side elevation of some of the parts shown in Fig. 1, theconnection beingshiftedand the key bottom omitted; Fig. 4 is'a planview of a a section of one'key and also shows part of one-shiftable connection, the full lines corresponding to the position of thebutton 33 as shown in Fig. 3 and the dotted lines to Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Jan, 25, 1916, -llpplicat'ion filed. February 13,1915. Serial No. 3,106.

1;.andiFigh6 isa plan view of the parts i i 0 the performer. clare the following. to be a full, clear, and

ported upon the key frame 2by supports,

two of which are shown at 4. The key frames 2 and 3 are providedwith the usual balance pins and felt washers therefor, balance rails, front pins and felt washers therefor, and the key pads 5 and 6 respectively.

Thepkey'l is provided with the usual capstan screw, 8 upon which rests the abstract 9*. The lower portion only of the abstract VQ fis shown. The abstract, the piano action of which itqforms a partand the other parts of the piano being of any approved, or of the well known construction will not be described. v

"The key 8 is normallyheld in the position shown in Fig. 1 by the spring 9 which is secured by the screws 12 to the cross piece 10, and the latter is secured to the key frame 7 3 by supports, one of which is shown at 11.

, Thespring 14 is attached to the key 8 by thescrews 13; and on the under side of the free endof said spring there is-secured a valve disk 15. The valve disk 15 normally closes the port 16 in the cross piece 29' (see Figs. 3 and 4), and the latter is connected with the duct. 17. The cross piece 29 eX tends entirely across the key-board, and is supported on the key frame 2, onesupport being shown at 30. The cross piece 29 is provided with one port similar to 16 and one duct similar to 17 for each key in the to a suitable pneumatic mechanism for controlling the flow of'air'to pipes or reeds, the whole being so arranged that when the valve disk 15 is lifted from the port 16, then said pipesor reeds will sound. This pneumatic mechanism and saidpipes or reeds being. of any approved, or of the well known construction will not bedescribed. In the construction above described when upper bank. The duct. 17 is tobe connectedthe front end of the key 7 is depressed, as

shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1,jthe abstract 9 raiseol and the hammer of the piano v action, iscaused to strike the strings. ,Sim'i- V larly, the: depression of the front end ofxthe key 8 will raise the valve disk 15 from the port 16 and cause the corresponding pipe or reed to sound. That is, the keys of each bank will sound their corresponding sounding devices only. But it is sometimes de sirable to sound the organ by the movement of the piano key. The instrumentalities whereby this effect can be obtained at the will of the performer will now be described.

Recesses 1S and 19 are cut in the inner side of the key frame 3 and in these recesses the flanges 20 and 21 are secured. Links 22 and 23 are articulated with the flanges 20 and 21 by pins 24c, 24, and with the rail 25 by the pins 26, 2G. The rail 25 is supported on the hooks 27, and the latter are screwed into the key frame 3. A rail 28 is secured to thecross piece 29 and projects a short distance to the right of the latter as shown in Fig. 1. Bushings 31, 31, are provided in the rails and 28 and a wire slides freely in said bushings. The rails 25 and 28 extend the full width of the keyboard and there are as many wires similar to 32 mounted therein as there are keys in the upper key-board. The rail 25 is to be connected in any approved manner with a pedal, knee swell, hand operated lever or draw knob, so that the performer can at will move its ends in either direction as along the dotted lines 15, as in Fig. '-l. One way of moving the rail 25 is shown in Fig. 4:, in which 47 is a hand operated lever, articulated as at 48 toa support 49 fixed to the key frame 3 and asat to the rail 25. Wood buttons 33 and 34: are screwed, respectively, on the threaded lower and upper extremities of the wire 32 and the hemispherical outer ends of said buttons are provided with leather buffers 35 and respectively. Vhen the parts are in the position shown in Fig. l, the top of the buffer 36 is slightly below the spring 1-1 and the bottom of the buffer is just above the top surface 37, (see Fig. 1) of the step 38. y The step 38 which is approximately the same width as the key, is rigidly secured to the top of the key 7. The front surface 39 and the rear surface 10 of the step 38 are substantially parallel to each other and at right angles to the top and side surfaces of the key 7, (see Figs. 5 and 6). The top surface 37 of the step 38 is slightly inclined to the top surface of the key 7 as shown in Figs.

v 1 and 3, and the surface ll is inclined to both of the surfaces 37 and 10. Beginning at the lines 42 and 13 on the surfaces 37 and 4:1, another inclined surface 1-4 slopes downwardly and toward the right as shown in Fig. 5.

The operation of my improved key-board is as follows :\Vhen the rail 25 is in the position shown in Fig. 3 and by the dotted lines in Fig. 4, the buffer 35 will be out of the path of the step 38. If now the front end of the key is depressed, the abstract 9 will be lifted and the piano action operated in the usual manner, thus sounding the corresponding string of the piano, but the pipe or reed of the organ will not be sounded. If the front end of the key S is depressed the valve disk 15 will be lifted off the port 16 and the corresponding pipe or reed will be sounded. W hen the rail is in the position just specified, then the piano and organ keycards must be operated separately. If new the rail (25) be moved to. the position shown in F ig. 1 then the buffer 35 will be in the path of the step 38 and when the front end of the key 7 is depressed, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the abstract 9 will be lifted as before de scribed, the buffer 36 will also lift the spring 1%, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, thus opening the port 16 and the corresponding pipe or reed will sound with the strings of the piano. If the front end of key 8 is depressed the corresponding pipe or reed will be sounded as before described.

It is to be noted that the spring 1 1 is much lighter in tension than the spring 9, so that the key 8 does not move when the spring L1 is lifted by the key 7, and the spring l i is sufliciently light to avoid an appreciable change of touch when the rail 25 is moved to the positionlast described. Hence it is evident that the key 8 never controls more than its corresponding pipe or reed, but that the key 7 may, at the will of the performer, con

trol only its corresponding strings, or in addition thereto the corresponding pipe or reed in the organ CllVlSlOIl of the lnstrument.

From an inspection of Figs. 1, 3, l, 5 and 6 it is evident that even if the front end of the key 7 is depressed then the rail 25 can be moved from the position shown in Fig.3 to that shown in Fig. l, with the result that the buffer 36 will lift the spring 14, because the buffer 35 during this motion of the rail 25 will slide up the inclined surface 4 1, thus sounding the corresponding pipe or reed. It is also evident that the rail 25 can be moved in the reverse direction while the front end of the key 7 is depressed with the result that said pipes or reeds will cease to sound.

I have stated that the key 7 is used to sound strings in a piano, and that the key 8 is used to control pipes or reeds in an organ, but these functions may be reversed, or both keys can be used for sounding strings in pianos, or for controlling pipes or reeds in organs and many other changes could be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Thus I provide a simple and effective shiftable connection between the upper and lower keys which can be used even if said lower key is depressed at its front end.

I claim 1. In couplers for musical instruments,

i said upper key.

the combination of alow'er'key, an upper key, a valve 'moved by said upper key, a fixed rail, a movable mil, a connection between said lower key and said valve mounted to slide in bothoi said-rail and means for moving said movable rail.

' 2. In couplers for musical instruments the combination ofa lower key,-an. upper key,- a

spring mounted on said upper key, a valve mounted on said spring and a connection between saidlower key and said spring whereby said valve canbe moved without moving 3. In couplers for musical instruments the combination of a lower key, an upper key, a spring mounted'on said upper key, a valve "mounted on said spring, a spring for yieldvalve moved by said upper key, a step on said lower key having a flat top and a surface inclined to said top, a fixed rail, a mov- Copies of thispatent may be obtained for able rail, a connection mounted to slide in both of said rails and means for moving said movable rail so that one'end of said connection will slide up said inclined plane and to said top, when the front end of said 7 lower key is depressed.

5. In couplers for muslcal instruments, the

combination of an upper key and key frame, I v

a lower key and key frame, a valve mounted on said upper key, a fixed rail,a movable rail, a connection between said lower key and said valve mounted to slide in said movable and fixed rails, links each having one end pivoted to said upper key frame and the other end pivoted to said movable rail, said links having their pivoted ends so positioned that said links guide said movable rail forwardly and to one side to bring said connection into position to move said valve, and rearwardly and to the opposite side to bring said connection into a position in which it does not move said valve.

In testimony whereof,I afliX my signature,

in presence of two witnesses.

, ERNEST J. KNABE, JR. IVitnesses: Y

'E. A. Donia.

M. Cox. o,

five-cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. v I 

